David Need

Lecturing Fellow of Religion

Overview

I have taught at Duke since 1999, primarily in Religious Studies. I developed the ICS gateway class and taught it from 2005-2012. My academic expertise is in Asian Religions and in Literature and Religion, with a focus on poetics, ritual and meditation systems.

In addition to scholarly articles, I have published three books — two are translations and essays on Rainer Maria Rilke, the third is a selection of my own poetry, including a long poem set alongside the Gospel of Mark.

Education & Training

Message from the Department:

The faculty of the Department of Religious Studies laments and strongly objects to the racist comments and symbols that have appeared on campus at Duke, repugnant expressions of White supremacy groups and others expressing racial and religious hatred that have no place whatsoever in our community or anywhere else. We sincerely hope that students, staff and faculty across the university will publicly convey their staunch rejection of such hatred in order to champion the values of tolerance and equality that are the true basis of our intellectual and ethical community.